@conference {11920,
	title = {A correlation of the structure and chemical composition of the habitat sediments with the ecological flow of Acheloos river in Trikala Prefecture, Thessaly, Greece.},
	booktitle = {10th International Congress of the Hellenic Geographical Society},
	year = {2014},
	month = {22-24 October},
	address = {Thessaloniki, Greece},
	abstract = {<div>During the implementation of fieldwork for the {\textquotedblleft}Ecoflow{\textquotedblright} Cooperation project, in Acheloos\&nbsp;River, Trikala Prefecture, Central Greece, 10 unstructured sediment samples were extracted\&nbsp;from 3 sites along the river banks for measurements and analysis. The samples were taken\&nbsp;from the areas of Drosochori (DR 1, DR 2 \&amp; DR 3), Aspropotamos (ASP 1 \&amp; ASP 3) and\&nbsp;Mesochora (KOR 1, KOR 2, MES 1, MES 2, \&amp; MES 4).\&nbsp;For granulometric analysis of the samples, the Folk \&amp;Ward method (2222) was used. As it\&nbsp;was resulted, all samples are classified as gravelly sands to sandy gravels, poorly to very\&nbsp;poorly sorted, very coarse to very fine skewed and platykurtic to mesokurtic.\&nbsp;The ΧRD mineralogical analysis showed that in all the samples quartz is the major\&nbsp;component. Calcite or dolomite [one sample] content is ranging between major through\&nbsp;medium values. The presence of the magnesian calcite, which was found in two samples, is</div>
<div>most likely attributed to biological sources (i.e. epiphytes, shells, etc), as commonly occur\&nbsp;white colonies of small coral-like assemblages stack on the permanently wet pebbles\&nbsp;observed close to the river banks.\&nbsp;Sodium feldspars predominantly albite] are present in half of the samples as medium\&nbsp;component and as trace component in the other half. By contrast, potassium feldspars [mainly\&nbsp;orthoclase] are always present in minor/trace amounts. The presence of clay minerals, when\&nbsp;considered as a group, is that of a medium or minor component. As the clay minerals content\&nbsp;increases, the water has more suspended particles, so the river{\textquoteright}s turbidity during stormy events\&nbsp;is strongly influenced. The higher content of clay minerals in the samples of Mesochora\&nbsp;(downstream) indicates a different source of sediment from that of the other samples.\&nbsp;By comparing the mineralogical analysis results with river water chemical analysis results\&nbsp;from the same sampling sites, it becomes evident that the analyzed sediments do not provide\&nbsp;the river waters with ions, as can be deduced from the low content of alkalies and alkaline\&nbsp;earth metals. Sulphates and chlorides were detected in trace amounts in the water samples,\&nbsp;whereas no sulphate minerals or halides there were detected in the sediments analysed. It is\&nbsp;therefore concluded that there is not any buried evsaporite source in the vicinity of the\&nbsp;sampling areas. In addition, the significantly low content of nitrates, nitrites and ammonia\&nbsp;demonstrate the nonexistent contamination from biogenic factors.\&nbsp;Another factor that plays a crucial role in the ecological status of the river is the availability of\&nbsp;sediment for the development and maintenance of suitable habitats for the icthyofauna. The\&nbsp;composition and structure of sediments affect their transportation and deposition behaviour\&nbsp;which impacts the substrate of the river habitats. To assess this aspect in the study area,\&nbsp;habitat suitability curves for specific fish species have been used that describe the best\&nbsp;substrate for the necessary river habitats to support the breeding and reproduction of the\&nbsp;particular fish species. The representation of the sample sediments in the substrate types\&nbsp;required has been estimated by combining the results from habitat mapping, suitability curves\&nbsp;and the sediment analyses. The results indicated that the type of material available in the\&nbsp;particular river segments is appropriate for the maintenance and development of the habitat\&nbsp;types that are required for a good ecological status.</div>},
	author = {Evelpidou, N. and Dimitriou, E. and Papadaki, Ch. and Stamatakis, M. and Ntoanidis, L. and Koutsomichou, I. and Anastasatou, M. and Karkani, A.}
}
